1987 

The Anthony Griffin Case

Anthony Griffin, a 19-year-old black man, attempts to flee after being stopped by a Montreal Urban Community police officer named Allan Gosset. After telling Griffin to stop, Constable Gosset fired a shot that hit Griffin in the head and killed him. The Commission des droits de la personne (Human Rights Commission) decided to investigate "allegations of discriminatory treatment and racist behavior towards visible and ethnic minorities by the police services as well as the causes of the tensions in the relations between these minorities and police forces".

1988

The Bellemare report

The Comité d'enquête sur les relations entre les corps policiers et les minorités ethniques (Investigation Committee on relations between police forces and etchnic minorities) created by the Commission des droits de la personne was chaired by Me Jacques Bellemare. The Bellemare Report entitled Les pratiques en matière d'enquêtes criminelles au sein des corps de police du Québec (Criminal investigation practices within Quebec police forces) emphasized that the public perceives that a system in which police officers to judge each other is likely to lead to bias against complainants. He therefore recommends the creation of an independent system for handling complaints against police officers : the police ethics system.

1990

The Police Organization Act

This bill introduces major changes to the handling of citizen complaints against police officers:

• Entry into force of the Code of Ethics of Québec Police Officers, which aims to regulate relations between those subject to it and citizens.
• Creation of the Commissaire à la déontologie policière (Police Ethics Commissioner), who now receives and handles complaints from the public.
• Creation of the Comité de déontologie policière (Police Ethics Committee), an entity distinct from the Commissioner, whose purpose is to rule and decide whether persons summoned before it have engaged in any conduct derogatory to the Code of Ethics of Québec Police Officers, and to impose a sanction where appropriate.
• Addition of mechanisms for reviewing the Commissioner's decisions and appealing decisions of the Comité de déontologie policière.

1996

The Corbo report

The Ministère de la Sécurité publique decided to review and revise the operation and mechanisms of Quebec's police ethics system after being advised of several problems related to:

• the cumbersome nature of the procedure and the sometimes lengthy delays, given the nature of some complaints;
• the high number of Comité de déontologie's decisions appealed;
• the costs borne by the various parties involved, including the government and municipalities, which must in all cases defend their police officers.

Claude Corbo, former rector of the Université du Québec à Montréal and a political science researcher, was commissioned to conduct the review. The Corbo Report, entitled À la recherche d'un système de déontologie policière juste, efficient et frugal : rapport de l'examen des mécanismes et du fonctionnement du système de déontologie policière effectué à la demande du ministre de la Sécurité publique du Québec (In Search of a Fair, Efficient and Frugal Police Ethics System: Report of the Review of the Mechanisms and Operation of the Police Ethics System Conducted at the Request of the Quebec Minister of Public Security) made a number of recommendations:

• Make conciliation mandatory in the police ethics process.
• Include time limits in the Bill for concluding an ethics investigation.
• Extend the Commissioner's powers to dismiss complaints.
• Abolish notice to complainants and police officers.
• Maintain the right of appeal.

1997

Legislative changes following the Corbo report

On june 19, 1997, an Act to amend the Act respecting police organization and the Police Act with regard to police ethics was assented to. It incorporated several of the Corbo Report's recommendations, including making conciliation mandatory in the police ethics process.

2000

Adoption of the Police Act

The Police Act, which replace the Police Act and the Police Organization Act, is assented to on June 16, 2000. It makes no changes to the jurisdiction, powers or duties of the Commissaire à la déontologie policière. 

2009

Expansion of the extraterritorial powers of police officers and application of the Code of Ethics of Quebec Police Officers

Amendments have been made to the Police Act to allow police officers to be invested with extraterritorial powers, and to determine the ethical regime applicable to them. Under some conditions, a police officer from another Canadian province or territory may perform duties in Quebec. A Quebec police officer may also perform their duties in another Canadian province or territory. In both cases, they are subject to the Code of Ethics of Québec Police Officers. However, no sanction may be imposed on a police officer from another Canadian province or territory. 

2021

Tabling of the Final Report of the Activisory Committee on Police Reality

In 2019, the Ministère de la Sécurité publique tabled the document Réalité policière au Québec : modernité, confiance et efficience (Police reality in Quebec : modernity, trust and efficiency). This publication provides an overview of the current situation, serving as a starting point and common basis for reflection on the reality of policing in Quebec. An advisory committee of 5 people was set up to lead this reflection. The Advisory Committee had the opportunity to hear from organizations, stakeholders and citizens who wished to share their thoughts on Quebec's policing reality, during consultations and public hearings. The Advisory Committee table its report in May 2021.

2023

Adoption of the Act to amend various provisions relating to public security and to enact the Act to assist in locating missing persons

On October 5, 2023, Bill 14, An Act to amend various provisions relating to public security and to enact the Act to assist in locating missing persons, received Royal Assent. This new bill notably amends the Police Act as follows:

• The Commissaire à la déontologie policière is entrusted with a role of prevention and education for those subject to the Code of Ethics of Québec Police Officers.

• Filing a complaint is now restricted to the person present at the event, the person who is the object of the alleged police conduct, or their representative.

• Any other person may submit a report, anonymous or not, to the Commissioner.

• The Commissioner may now conduct an investigation on their initiative when it is brought to their attention that a person subject to the Code of Ethics of Québec Police Officers has breached a duty set out in the Code.

• Special measures have been put in place to deal with allegations of discriminatory conduct, notably the possibility for the complainant to refuse to participate in conciliation, and the Commissaire's obligation to conduct an investigation if need be.

• The name of the Comité de déontologie policière is changed to the Tribunal administratif de déontologie policière (Administrative Tribunal for Police Ethics).

• The sanctions of warning and blame that can be imposed by the Tribunal have been withdrawn.

• The Tribunal can now require the person who committed the derogatory act to successfully complete a training or refresher course.

• The power to appeal as of right from a decision of the Tribunal to the Court of Québec has been replaced by an appeal with leave to the Court of Québec.